This invention relates generally to a position sensor and, more particularly, to a position sensor for positioning and aligning a piston assembly with relation to a cylinder of an internal combustion engine.
Internal combustion engines include many components which need to be assembled in a very precise manner. This precise manner of assembly ensures that the internal combustion engine is efficiently working within its design parameters. However, the assembly of an internal combustion engine is difficult even for the most experienced technician, taking many hours or even days to properly assemble the many components.
In assembling an internal combustion engine, the technician manually performs many of the assembly steps, even those steps which require aligning heavy and awkward components with the engine block. By way of example, a technician must align the piston assemblies with respective cylinders of an engine block prior to inserting the piston assemblies within the cylinders. In order to perform this task, the technician first assembles the piston assembly by connecting a connecting rod to the piston head with a pin and placing rings within grooves of the piston crown. Thereafter, the technician places the piston and rings within a piston ring compressor which compresses the piston rings within the grooves of the piston crown. This allows the piston assembly to be properly inserted within the cylinder.
Once the piston assembly is inserted within the piston ring compressor, the technician manually lifts the piston assembly and aligns the piston with the cylinder. This is a very difficult assembly step, especially since the combination of the piston ring compressor and piston assembly may weigh upwards of twenty five kilograms (approximately fifty (50) pounds) or more in those cases when the piston assembly is used in large internal combustion engines.
In order to solve this problem, a second technician may assist in either the lifting or aligning steps. In the aligning step, the second technician typically stands behind the engine block and guides the connecting rod through the cylinder, proximate to the crankshaft. However, during this alignment step, the head of the piston assembly may not be properly aligned with the cylinder. This is a common occurrence since the guidance of the connecting rod through the cylinder does not align the piston head with the cylinder. Due to the misalignment of the piston with the cylinder, the skirt of the piston may scrape against the cylinder liner or face of the engine block prior to being inserted within the cylinder. This can cause damage to the piston and, in some instance, may require the connecting rod to be removed from the cylinder so that the piston assembly can be replaced with a new piston assembly and realigned with the cylinder of the engine block.
The use of the second technician and the need to replace and realign the piston assembly adds to the cost of manufacturing the engine, itself. These higher manufacturing costs are then passed along to the consumer by raising the cost of the machine which utilizes such engine.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.
In one aspect of the present invention a piston ring compressor having a sensor mounted thereon is provided. The sensor determines a position of the piston ring compressor with relation to the cylinder of the engine block.